Lifetime Forge
by Narwhale
Summary: Age changes, but perhaps not a person's heart. This is especially true with the old blacksmith, Ramsey, as he and the clinical nurse, Irene, reminisce about their past as lovers.


Evening had started to settle in Harmonica town. The locals had begun to close shop as they enjoyed the relief of the cool evening air after a day of the summer heat. They talked amongst each other, laughing and enjoying their time together. However, among the crowd, the old blacksmith Ramsey grunted as he drew his smoke pipe, not paying any attention to them as he walked past them and into the Brass Bar. It had always been like this for him; he'd wake up early to start the forge, gather his tools and materials, have a hot cup of coffee and review the day's order before starting his work, from morning till evening, and ending the day by having a cold drink at the Brass Bar in town afterwards. It was his profession, his style, his life, to heat metal and materials and turn them into tools, transforming one thing into another. And yet, despite the number of times he's changed the form of materials, nothing in his life had ever changed except his age and number of hairs left on his head. Many of the towns folks described him as 'grumpy and stubborn', but only because that was what he wanted them to see. With his age came knowledge, and with that knowledge he knew all too well how to hide his true thoughts and emotions.

It was a little busier than usual, the noise of the crowd deafening the soft music that filled the room, the smell of alcohol, food and tobacco giving off a strong yet sweet aroma. He grunted again as he fixed a stool in front of the bar. Hayden, the bar's owner, glanced over at Ramsey from behind the bar as he took another puff from his pipe.

"The usual?" Hayden asked. Ramsey simply nodded.

"Another long day, huh?" asked Hayden, trying to break the old man's silence as he prepared a wheat cocktail.

"Something like that," Ramsey muttered.

"Can tell there's a lot on your mind. I won't pry."

Ramsey simply grunted, paying for his drink before being left alone to his thoughts.

"I'll have the same as him, Hayden. And I'm buying." Ramsey did not recognize the womanly voice that suddenly paid for him. For all the times he's been in the Brass Bar, he knew all the patrons by heart, who would come in during certain times of the day, of the week, of the month and of the year. There were strangers from time to time, but none as quite different and unexpected as the one who came up right beside him, one whom he would never dream of seeing in the Brass Bar, let alone drinking his usual drink.

Ramsey could not hide his shock. "Irene?" he managed to say.

"Hello, Ramsey," the old nurse smiled, her wrinkles seemingly fading away from her face. "Quite a coincidence to meet you here."

Ramsey returned the smile. It felt strange to him to ever smile, but to see an old friend of his made it a natural reaction. In fact, it was rare that if anyone were to talk to him, he would return the conversation as well. "Indeed. This is the last place I'd ever imagine seeing you here."

"I was young once, too, you know," Irene remarked as she pulled a stool beside him. "Young and foolish. Truth be told, I was dreading to come back to this old establishment. So many memories, you know."

Ramsey simply nodded. "So why come here? You swore you'd never drink again."

Irene gave a light chuckle. "I promised myself I'd never do a lot of things. But I suppose with age you tend to not care about your dignity as much anymore."

"Ain't it the truth," concurred Ramsey. "I heard your grandson is finally betrothed."

Irene nodded. "Jin finally confessed to that gardener from the Marimba Farm, Anissa."

"Craig and Ruth's daughter? So I've heard," said Ramsey. "They'll make a fine couple, those two."

"Its funny how they met, really," Irene told Ramsey. "Jin said he had bumped into her in town. Quite literally. He fell harder than she did, and scrapped his elbow quite badly. She suggested to him that she knew a thing or two about first aid. Since they were both right in front of this bar when it happened, she purchased Hayden's strongest alcohol, and offered it to Jin. Him being the doctor, he knew alcohol would clean his wound, but Anissa instead forced him to down it, saying it would numb his pain. He was so intoxicated that she ended up carrying him home. I had never seen my grandson in such a silly state. I could still remember him yelling to me, 'grandma! I think I'm dead 'cause an angel came to carry me home'."

Ramsey snorted, coughing mildly from the tobacco in his pipe. "I can't imagine your grandson being so enamored by her. He'd always been so stoic its hard to see him in any other character."

"I suppose he gets it from me," Irene said. "I always lecture him and tell him to always act courteous and professional. If his mother and father had still been around, he would be less uptight."

Ramsey nodded. "He still misses them?"

Irene grew quiet as she looked down on the floor. "Of course he does. Its why he never displays any emotions. I try my best to fill in the void for his parents, but I know deep down, I can't replace my daughter or my son-in-law."

Ramsey shook his head. "You loved him as if he were your own son. He is your flesh and blood. He's the doctor of the town who takes care of everyone. You should be proud of what he has become. Your daughter would be happy with what you've done in her place."

The old nurse looked at the blacksmith and smiled. "I've forgotten how nice you could be. It would benefit you and your health if you showed more emotions to the townspeople every now and then."

Ramsey snorted as he took inhaled from his pipe. "Nice? That wouldn't work. It seems to work for my own grandkids, but not for me."

"So about Owen and Chloe?" asked Irene out of curiosity. "Will you ever let them see their parents? I don't think you should keep them away. They need their mom and dad."

Ramsey grunted as he inhaled his pipe deeply. "What choice do I have? Those two are so caught up in their own work that they prefer me to take care of their kids. Believe me, I would love for those two stinkers of kids to be reunited with their mom and dad, it would do them good. But their household is so broken, no amount of love or family bonding could ever repair it. The right choice those two has ever made in their pathetic life was to make sure Own and Chloe never spoke to them again."

Irene did not wholly agree with the choice Ramsey had made with Own and Chloe, but she could not argue that it was the best overall choice, the lesser of the evil, when it came to the children that Ramsey raised in his care. Truly Owen would not have been the strong, reliable and honorable man he was today and Chloe wouldn't have been a cheerful, happy and loving little girl had Ramsey never taken them in for himself. Their family had a dark past, filled with abuse and neglect, and Ramsey, despite being the old grumpy man everyone knew him for, couldn't stand to see the children go down such a destructive path. Still, Irene still never understood why Ramsey decided to take them in despite having no blood relations to them or their parents.

"They're lucky to be in your care. But you've yet to tell them?" Irene asked.

Ramsey raised a brow. "About me not actually being their grandpa? Nah, its best they didn't know. Besides, I like playing the roleplay. Makes me think I actually know how to raise kids."

"And you've done excellent raising them. But you could have had some kids and grandkids of your own," she pointed out.

Ramsey scoffed at the notion. "Everyone calls me grumpy and stubborn for a reason. I tend to keep it that way until I leave this Earth, which I don't think is very long from now."

"You still think of yourself so lowly after all these years?" Irene asked. "You've not changed a bit."

"Old habits die hard, so they say," Ramsey simply said. "But why bring up the ghosts of the past?"

Irene let out a soft sigh. "How many years has it been, Ramsey? I'd thought that after all this time, you would change."

She paused briefly, making Ramsey confused before speaking again. "I do apologize for making you such a grumpy old man today. I'll take the blame for it. I'm sorry we couldn't make it work out. We were so young back then."

Ramsey chuckled at her apology. "You still think about that after all these years?

Irene sighed again as she looked around the old bar. "You know, coming here brings back memories. I would have thought that after all these years, this place would have changed, but coming here feels as if I had just wandered back decades into the past."

Ramsey listened quietly as he took another puff from his pipe, inhaling deeply before exhaling, letting Irene's words soak in.

"I remember gagging and nearly passing out from the smell of the bar," Irene continued. "My friends insisted I went with them, but I opted to stay away from the alcohol and sat at a booth by myself."

Ramsey chuckled slightly at the thought of Irene. "You also remembered that was when I first approached you?"

"Oh yes, quite," Irene said. "You wanted to buy me a drink and give me a dance so badly. Hard to believe that you were quite different back then."

"I'd kick my own ass if I could for being so foolish," Ramsey laughed. "But you had to admit, I was quite the charmer."

"More like quite the persistent snob," Irene mocked. "But yes, you had some charisma. I merely accepted your offer out of pity instead of gratitude. And I did not regret it."

"I'm glad to hear I finally did something right," Ramsey sighed in relief.

Irene smiled, showing signs of blush among her wrinkles. "You were so pitiful I actually took your offer to go out on another date. I admit, you weren't as charming as you thought you were. But its probably why we started to grow closer to each other."

Ramsey chuckled at the thought of their long lost past. "I remembered you coming into my work shop and seeing me accidentally shirtless. You nearly passed out and fell into the forge. Had I not caught you, you would've burned your hair and become bald like me today."

"I was such a clumsy girl back then," Irene chuckled. "Its probably why I fell for you back then. Things would've been a lot different if we had gotten married."

"For good or for worse?" Ramsey asked out of curiosity.

"Hard to say. My daughter would have never been born and would have never given me my grandson, Jin. Of course, you wouldn't have turned into such a grumpy old man who gives himself the title of 'grandpa'."

"It's better this way, anyway," Ramsey said. "'Sides, Owen and Chloe would have never come into my care. And you would have never met your sweetheart who gave you your daughter."

"Ah, my old man," Irene sighed. "I suppose its better that he went before I did."

"Do you think he would mind if he found out you returned to the bar and talked to me?" Ramsey asked.

"He knew everything about us and doesn't see a problem," Irene reassured him. "Besides, he's dead. The Harvest Goddess knows I was faithful to him."

"I know you two loved each other," Ramsey said. "He was a good guy for you. More than I ever could be."

"You were the best man I ever knew. But we both knew that it would never work out."

Ramsey nodded his head. "I know. If only things had been different. I suppose life is funny like that, isn't it? Tempering with us like fire to metal."

"It seems life hasn't heated you enough to change you, though," Irene said. "You never truly moved on, have you? Was that why you couldn't bring yourself to marry another?"

Ramsey remained quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I'd be lying if I said no. But I've said before, it's better this way. I don't hold anything against you."

"But you know I wanted only the best for you," Irene pointed out. "If I had treated you more nicely, maybe you wouldn't have been so grumpy and stubborn."

"Maybe," Ramsey simply said. "But we're too old to hold onto regrets. And despite my stubbornness, I've never thought any less about you, Irene. You still matter after all these years."

Irene smiled warmly at Ramsey. "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you, Ramsey."

Just then, Hayden approached the two elders, handing them their drinks before leaving. Ramsey grabbed the cold bottle and raised it. "To us?"

Irene, being the lady who had refused alcohol her whole life, grabbed the extra bottle and raised it. "To us."

It wasn't very long after the two had reminiscence that they both left bar, with Irene returning to the clinic and Ramsey to the Garmon Mines. As he walked, he thought about all the memories he and the old woman shared in their youths. There was some regret in that they were never meant to be together, but at the same time, he was blessed with two children who, even if they weren't related to him at all and he was never a father nor grandfather, he could call his own. He believed himself to always be grumpy and stubborn, never changing, but in a sense, he had changed, whether he believed it or not. And over the course of a long life and seeing an old friend of his reassured him that his life had been a great one. He returned to his home in the Garmon Mines to be greeted by a muscular young and proud man and a sweet, cheerful girl who both greeted him warmly.

"Welcome home, grandpa!" they both said in unison.

An invisible tear swelled in Ramsey's eye as he put away his old smoking pipe. His grumpy expression disappeared and turned into a warm smile. "It's good to be home."

* * *

_Author's note: I had no idea where I was going with this. Just thought it'd be a creative way to write about characters no one gives a crap about. _


End file.
